Frýdlant Suite - Teil 2 - MVSR2464 | Musica

The almost inexhaustible melodic wealth of his homeland has been a source of artistic inspiration for Staněk all his life. In Germany his “Song and Dance”, the “Songs from the East End” and the “Czech Folk Dance Suite” have found wide acceptance. As original works they offer an excellent alternative to the many arrangements of Antonín Dvořák’s “Slavonic Dances”, for example. However, in his works Staněk never lapses into mere imitation or banal and tempting harmoniousness, but develops his musical material, its themes and harmonies, in an unmistakeable style which is both confident and unmistakably individualistic.

Pavel Staněk wrote the four-movement “Frýdlant Suite” at the request of the publisher Siegfried Rundel. The latter wanted a suite of Bohemian and Moravian folksongs which could also be performed by middle-category ensembles. The songs quoted and arranged here are familiar to everyone in Bohemia and Moravia: “Siva holubička” in Maestoso, molto cantabile, the waltz “Andulka Šafářová”, a dreamy larghetto with the title “Co to máš, má milá” and finally a fiery dance, “Jaká by to hanba byla” with the indication “Tempo ad libitum”. Staněk himself described it as a paraphrase of Czech songs. In order to avoid organisational problems in instrumentation for the performing ensemble, he has included instrumental alternatives in the score. The title “Frýdlant” is the name of two different towns in Bohemia and Moravia. With this suite Staněk has created a work filled with elderly wisdom and humour.

3. Co to más, má milá
4. Jaká by to hanba byla